There and (not quite) back again: A theatre and performance instructional team’s journey through COVID-19 in Australia

Abstract

This article details the journey of a Theatre and Performance team working in Australian higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using reflective practice informed by Social Constructivism, we addressed the dilemmas of building and shifting an online community of learners. Act One considers the unknown as we shifted online, and the new year gave way to a semester of developing solutions for teaching theatre in isolated learning environments. This focused on: peer-to-peer communication; group tasks in solo formats; and mechanisms for support. Act Two details the shift back into face-to-face collaborative learning environments focusing on artistic voice and flexible collaboration. How does one re-establish an ensemble while recognizing potential traumatic experiences? We developed effective pedagogical strategies in response to the crisis and pre-existing fault lines within a theatre curriculum. As the world recovers, we must recognize that the journey taken must inform future practice.